Papuga trial: AG tries to prove cover-up

In the third day of the jury-waived trial against the former manager of Milford Water Co., the assistant attorney general tried to prove that Henry Papuga replaced tampered samples after lab technicians voiced concerns.

By Lindsay Corcoran/Daily News staff

Milford Daily News

By Lindsay Corcoran/Daily News staff

Posted May. 16, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated May 16, 2013 at 4:03 PM

By Lindsay Corcoran/Daily News staff

Posted May. 16, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated May 16, 2013 at 4:03 PM

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In the third day of the jury-waived trial against the former manager of Milford Water Co., the assistant attorney general tried to prove that Henry Papuga replaced tampered samples after lab technicians voiced concerns.

Papuga is accused of doctoring samples in order to help lift a state order to boil drinking water after the town’s water tested positive for E. coli in August 2009. He has pleaded not guilty to all eight counts against him in the case, including counts of tampering with an environmental monitoring device or method and two counts of making false statements.

As the attorney general’s office seeks to prove Papuga used chlorine on six samples to ensure they did not test positive for bacteria, a chemist at the testing lab that Milford Water Co. sent samples to during the boil water order was called to testify.

Vera Sue Taylor, a senior chemist at Westborough testing lab Alpha Analytical, testified both on the samples she tested from Aug. 15, 2009 and about the conversations she had with Papuga.

“Some of them reacted rather weird, they turned a dark brown … I’ve never seen that happen before,” said Taylor, specifically noting the samples from the Purchase Street area where the majority of contaminated water was found during the boil water order.

She also said those samples smelled like a “swimming pool” when she opened them.

Taylor testified that she described the problems with the samples to Papuga on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2009, when he was dropping off new samples.

Taylor said Papuga told her not to test those three samples and said he was going to obtain new ones. She said she performed a quick experiment with old samples, because she was “curious,” and did not see a strange reaction.

While Taylor testified that Papuga left the samples at the lab, the assistant attorney general trying the case, Daniel Licata, used his next witness to counter that claim.

“They tested normal, which is culpable for the defendant, but it is less culpable if he took them back,” said Licata as he argued Taylor was not remembering the events of the day accurately.

Licata next called Jason Trepanier, a former operations supervisor at Milford Water Co., who took the replacement samples at the behest of Papuga on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2009.

“He said they were bad samples and asked me to take new ones,” Trapanier said. “He gave the three original samples to me to bring all of them back to the lab.”

Jeffrey Papuga, Henry’s son who works as a treatment plant operator at Milford Water Co., also testified on Wednesday as the employee who took samples on Aug. 15, 2009, the day the attorney general’s office contends samples were tampered with.

Licata asked Jeffrey Papuga about the chain of custody forms for both the morning and afternoon samples taken on that Saturday that show only he and his father handled the samples before they were brought to the lab.

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Closing arguments in the case may be made Thursday afternoon.

Lindsay Corcoran can be reached at 508-634-7582 or lcorcoran@wickedlocal.com. For Milford news throughout the day, follow her on Twitter @LacorcMDN.